Lizzie Worsdell, 26, received the best supporting actress award at the Los Angeles Movie Awards for her performance in the short film Rose, Mary And Time.

The film, which also starred former EastEnders actor Larry Lamb and Emmerdale actor Bhaskar Patel, has won several awards, including the jury prize for excellence at the Boston sci-fi film festival.

Miss Worsdell, who grew up in Nettlebed and Britwell Salome, said: “I was shocked to find out that I’d won. I remember reading an email about how the film was being well received, which was exciting enough, so to be nominated and win this award is fantastic.”

She almost missed her audition for the film in October 2011 as her father was suffering from cancer.

The production crew agreed to move the audition back another two weeks, which ended up being the day after her father died. Miss Worsdell said: “I was going through this difficult time but I still wanted to go to the audition. I guess it was one of those things where I thought it would be what my father would have wanted me to do.

“I was really keen on the script and it helped to take my mind off what had happened.”

Filming for the 38-minute film started the following month and was completed by March last year.

Miss Worsdell plays Sandra, an unfaithful wife in an unhappy marriage to Barney (Zak Lee). He finds a clock which takes him back in time to before their wedding where he breaks off their relationship and marries the love of his life.

Miss Worsdell attended the film’s premiere at a screening in London in December. It was then selected to be screened at 34 film festivals, including Cannes.

She first gained a taste for acting when she went to see Scrooge at the Oxford Playhouse when she was about 10. She persuaded her mother to enroll her on acting classes at the Kenton Theatre in Henley and went on to join the National Youth Theatre.

Miss Worsdell won a three-year scholarship to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Hollywood and spent two years working abroad before returning to the UK in 2011.

She now lives in London and works as a personal assistant and immigration consultant for Next Stop LAX, which provides visas for actors, but hopes to land a part in a television series.

“I really want to break into TV this year,” she said. “I think there are some really good quality dramas coming out at the moment and, like most people, I’d love to do Downton Abbey.”

Despite the strong competition for parts, she says she can’t imagine doing anything other than acting.

Miss Worsdell said: “I am really glad I’ve pursued it but it is a lot tougher than you think. I love it and that is why I can’t give it up.”